Audio: Listen to this article.

In December 2023 I made the decision to upgrade my surround and center channel speakers when Wilson Audio announced updates to both. I wrote about the products in this article (link), as I anticipated the upgrade.

In April 2024 the speakers arrived. I called my friends at Manny’s Piano Movers to lift the new Mezzo CSC center channel to the second level, and I wrote about preparing for the installation in this article (link).

Shortly after the aforementioned article was written, Tyler Hall and Peter McGrath from Wilson Audio arrived to assist with the installation. The old saying, “many hands make short work” was appropriate for this endeavor. Removing eight wall and ceiling mounted original Alida speakers, wrapping them in original packaging, and crating them for pickup is no small task for one to accomplish alone. It was a breeze with the help of the Wilson Audio team.

These guys know what they are doing, and spread this knowledge with Wilson’s dealers around the world. How do I know? They were taking photos and calling the factory during the installation to provide updates on the process and to take note of anything that should be disseminated to dealers because the speakers were brand new. Bolting loudspeakers into one’s walls and ceiling can raise the level of anxiety to a level not experienced when installing floor standing speakers. Fortunately, I had zero worries. I knew I’d be taken care of and I knew the job would be done correctly the first time.

A Glorious Upgrade

Given that the previous articles covered more technical details and features, it’s time I get down to the business of sound quality. As someone who listens to music eight to ten hours per day, I consider myself very fortunate. This time spent listening enables me to recognize changes in my systems with relative ease. Prior to this upgrade, I would’ve been very happy with my system and put it up against any immersive audio system in the world (as if there’s a ridiculous competition). Once the upgrade was compete, I heard very quickly what I’d been missing and immediately understood not only the importance one’s speakers coming from a single manufacturer, but the benefits of matching one’s speakers as closely as possible. Now, every speaker in my system, with the exception of the LoKe subwoofer, has the same CSC tweeter. This is game changing.

In addition to the matching tweeters, the sound I’m getting from the Mezzo CSC center channel is like having a Wilson Audio Sasha V loudspeaker right in front of me, as the driver compliments are identical, while the cabinets are vastly different. This is a big deal for immersive music because the placement of musicians can be front and center, as I’ll share in a bit. Why not just use a floor standing loudspeaker as my center channel? I don’t want a taller speaker between the front left and right channels as I believe it would alter the stereo imaging when not listening to immersive music. A low profile Mezzo CSC, with a beautiful hourglass stand resting on spikes embedded into my wool carpet, is the ideal center channel loudspeaker for me.

Listening to the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio’s album A Shade of Blue in TrueHD Dolby Atmos (link) is both a sonic treat, capable of transporting the listener to the Gotanda Cultural Center Music Hall in Shinagawa City, Tokyo, Japan, and is illustrative of why I love the Mezzo CSC so much.

This recording features Tsuyoshi Yamamoto on the left, Hiroshi Kagawa with his bass in the middle, and Toshio Osumi’s drums on the right side of the soundstage. Engineer Hideo Irimajiri captured and mixed this trio exactly as it played live, with some of Kagawa’s bass bleeding into the left and right channels, but the vast majority of it emanating from the center channel.

Listening through my previous WATCH Series 3 center channel speaker, much of the bass was offloaded to the LoKe subwoofer because it wasn’t designed to handle reproducing a full blown standup bass. After the upgrade, playing this track was one of the first things I did. I love the music, the recording, and the mix. I just had to hear it again for the first time.

Midnight Sugar played through my system with the Mezzo CSC was everything I’d hoped it would be. The anticipation while waiting for the speakers to arrive, listening to this album several times during the months long wait, and the sonic dreaming done in my head, were all worth the wait. The Mezzo CSC is capable of reaching down to 19 Hz and reproducing Kagawa’s bass superbly. Listening to this album, and especially Midnight Sugar, I was presented with a front soundstage much more cohesive than with the previous center channel.

Lush deep bass starting in the center, bleeding into the left and right, before fading away in the surround channels. It’s glorious to hear when done at this level. Now imagine, much of the bass being offloaded to the subwoofer while the upper frequencies play through a center channel and the full frequency of the bass bleeds into the front left and right channels. It just sounds like it shouldn’t work as well as it did with the WATCH Series 3, but one doesn’t know what’s possible until the possible is performed in one’s listening room. I loved the WATCH Series 3, but music reproduction at this level thrives off of speakers as good as the Mezzo CSC. In a way, it feels like the Mezzo CSC should ship with a flyer sticking out of the front port that says, “Welcome to the big leagues.”

Equally as critical to this upgrade, and evident from the first note of the first album I played, is the CSC tweeter in all eight Alidas, that matches the Alexia V and Mezzo CSC. Sure, all the technical upgrades in the Alida to dampen vibrations shouldn’t be discounted, but in my mind the CSC tweeter upgrade hit me like a ton of bricks. My head was on a swivel when I tapped play. I couldn’t stop looking around at the surround speakers, as if I would see something coming out of the new Alidas. Perhaps I was just in awe of the new sound of my immersive music system.

No music illustrates the size of this sonic improvement more than that of Morten Lindberg and his 2L record label. Morten’s albums reveal the ultimate in resolution, delicacy, dynamics, and just about every category one can imagine. Picture this, a trio of wonderful vocalists front and center, Anders Jormin on his double bass to the right, Arve Henriksen with his trumpet to the left, and Helge Andreas Norbakken on percussion in the rear. All musicians standing in a loose circle in March 2024, inside the beautiful Sofienberg Church, in Oslo, Norway. And, Morten Lindberg capturing it all in high resolution DXD for a discrete 7.1.4 twelve channel release title Yule from Trio Mediæval (link), in addition to several other formats for playback on any audio system.

As soon as the Trio started singing on track one, Det hev ei rosa sprunge, I was captivated by the direct vocal reproduction in front of me and the reverberation surrounding me. Rather than an abrupt hand off of this delicacy, from speaker to speaker as the vocals reverberated, I heard a sonic weave through the entire attack, sustain, decay and release envelope as the Trio’s voices disappeared into the dark corners of Sofienberg Church.

While the handoff from Alexia V to original Alida was much closer to olympic relay runner’s precision and timing with the baton than anything else I’ve heard, the movement of sound from Alexia V and Mezzo CSC to Alida CSC has advanced into a new category of sonic transition. I don’t feel right about calling it a handoff, even though the sound is literally decaying from the front to the overhead and rear speakers, it’s as close to a handoff as the point at Cape Horn on the southern point of Tierra del Fuego, where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meet. In other words, the handoff or demarcation between oceans and speakers in my system only exists on paper.

I can hear some members of the Audiophile Style community mumbling in the back corner of the Internet about never listening to 2L recordings and much preferring something less classical. I’m glad they spoke up, because I’ve been playing the new TrueHD Dolby Atmos releases from Frank Zappa (Apostrophe), Tori Amos (Unrepentant Geraldines), David Gilmour (Luck and Strange), and David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust), with great enjoyment. These releases range from tame to adventurous in their mixes, but each one sounds fantastic on my upgraded Mezzo CSC and Alida CSC speakers.

The tone of David Gilmour’s guitar and accompanying musicians, on the tasteful Atmos mix of the title track, Luck and Strange, is just beautiful as it washes around and over my listening chair. Zappa sounds like he is singing (or is it talking?) in my ear, as his guitar and other sonic treats emanate from all around. It’s a trippy experience to say the least, and I couldn’t be happier at the level or performance I’m getting from this speaker upgrade. The whole of my system is absolutely greater than the sum of its upgraded parts.

Conclusion

I can only speak as a music fan who spends eight to ten hours per day listening without a screen in sight, rather than a home theater buff. The importance of high quality similar loudspeakers for immersive music playback has never been more evident to me than it is now. Delicacy, detail, and dynamics are equally important, no matter which loudspeaker in an immersive system reproduces these sonic attributes.

Upgrading my immersive audio system from the Wilson Audio WATCH Series 3 and original Alida speakers to the Mezzo CSC center channel and Alida CSC was like upgrading from a nice three fold necktie, with a dissimilar liner sewn in for structure, to a finely woven seven fold tie crafted from a single piece of silk. The WATCH and original Alida were great, but were also outclassed by the decade of improvements contained in my main Alexia V loudspeakers. This led to a subtle handoff of sound between speakers rather than the weave of immersive music that I hear with the new Mezzo CSC and Alida CSC. Sitting in my listening chair, I now feel like I’m in a crystal clear sphere of sound.

    Product Information:

• Wilson Audio Mezzo CSC Center Channel - $21,250 ($24,250 as tested with Premium Pearl finish)
• Wilson Audio Alida CSC - $17,650/pair ($18,150/pair as tested with upgraded finish)
• Where to Buy

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system

    Audio: Listen to this article.

Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t written an in-depth article about a single Sonore Rendu variant since 2019. Considering that I awarded the Rendu series the Audiophile Style Product of the Decade (2010-2020), and I use a Rendu, in one form or another, almost every day, 2019 seems like a lifetime ago for my last Rendu article. It’s time to dig into the newest and best release to date from the Sonore team, the Signature Rendu SE Deluxe.

The Sonore Signature Rendu SE Deluxe Details

The new Signature Rendu SE Deluxe is a major upgrade from Signature Rendus of the past. It all starts with a brand new main board. The team didn’t just replace a couple inconsequential parts and call it Deluxe. This is a new main board with a new network circuit based on a Broadcom integrate circuit. Based on my research and experience, these Broadcom chips are a big deal. In fact, they are highly sought after in network switches for datacenters as well. Sonore also removed the USB hub inside the new Signature Rendu SE Deluxe, in favor of a newer USB circuit design.

Talking to the Sonore team, one thing is very clear, these guys understand competition and it’s constantly pushing them to improve their products. This push enabled them to discover a much better way of implementing their clock injection that elevates the Signature Rendu SE Deluxe’s performance well beyond that of any Rendu that has come before it. In addition, and I know some people who will be fans of this improvement, the team found a way to reduce CPU cycles, resulting in lower processing, lower heat production, and lower noise.

Working with engineer John Swenson and a top tier manufacturing facility in Canada, the team improved how the CPU connects to the main board I/O, increasing stability over all previous Rendu units. Given that some digital audio can still be a bit Wild West these days, I support all stability improvements like this.

The Signature Rendu SE Deluxe retains nearly the same custom power supply as the previous version, with a few changes. The circuit that damps ringing from the transformer has been improved, resulting in lower noise. And, a very subtle value adjustment, to the final decoupling capacitor before the discrete voltage regulator circuit, was made to improve stability of the already superbly performing power supply.

The software side of all Rendu products is constantly being improved as well. Version 2.9 is current, and what my review unit is running. I was very happy to see Sonore and its Signature Rendu SE Deluxe listed in the certified Plays with Audirvana partner section of the Audirvana website. This is very important for UPnP, as many of us know it can be the most nonstandard standard. Assuring a level of performance and compatibility is great for consumers and manufacturers alike.

In addition to the Rendu, I’ve been using a Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i9 (Gen 4) server running Audirvana Studio / Core Player for Linux. I’ve used many sonicTransporters over the years and enjoy the ease and rock solid performance that comes with them. The i9 Gen 4 is the latest, and best, version. Paired with Audirvana, this really could be THE server for many people who love Audirvana but have been “stuck” in the Mac/PC world all these years because Audirvana required macOS or Windows.

One additional note, the i9 Gen 4 server I have also features the Ravenna driver, enabling it to play my 12 channel music files to my Merging Technologies immersive audio system. Much more on this in a future article.

Getting Down to Brass T(r)acks

All the aforementioned upgrades are well and good, but let’s get down to brass tacks. How well does the Signature Rendu SE Deluxe perform in my reference system? Flawless, fearless, and fantastic. Flawless in that it works perfectly, every time. Fearless in that it has the software options to accept anything I digitally throw at it (UPnP, Roon, NAA, etc…). Even more important for us knuckle dragging audiophiles, the Signature Rendu SE Deluxe sounds fantastic.

Note 1: I initially had playback issues using the Deluxe, but I tracked down the issue to an esoteric USB cable that likely doesn’t meet the USB specification. Currently, I can’t get the Deluxe to stumble if I try my hardest. 

The system I used most during this review consisted of a Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i9 (Gen 4) server running Audirvana > copper Ethernet output > switch > optical fiber > Signature Rendu SE Deluxe > USB > dCS Rossini APEX > Constellation Audio Inspiration Preamp and monobocks > Transparent cable > Wilson Audio Alexia V loudspeakers.

Note 2: I really like using devices such as the Signature Rendu SE Deluxe in front of my DACs, as opposed to using a DAC’s built-in ethernet interface, because they are so versatile, work extremely well, offer isolation, and can be expanded to include new features via simple software upgrade. This does increase the number of boxes by one, versus a DAC only system, and I can see why those seeking the ultimate in simplicity may opt for a single box solution.

How fantastic does the Signature Rendu SE Deluxe sound? Fantastic enough to put me right back in my seat at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis with @austinpop, for Osmo Vanska conducting the Minnesota Orchestra’s performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony in 2023. Rajiv Arora and I attended the performance and the recording session the following day, as described perfectly in this article (Link). Listening to the BIS Records version, at home, through the Deluxe, was an absolutely wonderful experience.

As soon as the horns began in movement one, I was instantly transported to Orchestra Hall. I thought about the people sitting next to us, the very excited gentleman sitting behind us who could barely hold his applause, and I visualized the musicians in front of us. Sound quality at this elite level leads to stunning experiences at home, where theater of the mind is every bit as good as actually being there in person, on many levels. In fact, I could hear everything so much better in my own system with the Signature Rendu SE Deluxe, than I could that night at the Hall.

I knew the Deluxe would reproduce the bombastic percussion of Mahler’s Third very well, but I really wanted to hear the benefits, if any, of the new lower noise improvements. A little over one minute into the first movement, my suspicions were confirmed. The Deluxe is the best Rendu I’ve heard in my system. The very soft “taps” of the drum head, by principal percussionist Brian Mount, could be heard as if they really were off in the distance, yet they had incredible texture. This is partly because of how the producer Rob Suff crafts the recording, and also because of an audio system capable of reproducing everything that’s on that very recording.

Throughout this entire performance, ebbing and flowing between loud and soft passages, enthusiastic and relaxed emotions, everything that is a Mahler symphony could be heard on an appropriately large soundstage with depth and height, percussion capable first scaring then kicking the listener in the chest, and strings with the ultimate in delicacy and palpability.

I’d love to go back to Orchestra Hall, but given what I heard at home through the Deluxe, I’m in no rush.

Transitioning from Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, to the Unterfahrt Jazz Club in Munich, Germany, I played the newest release from Bob Reynolds Group, Live in Munich. As the title suggests, this is another live recording, and it’s also capable of placing the listener right in the jazz club through an equally capable HiFi system.

Track two is my absolute favorite on this album. Gene Coye’s drumming is off the charts, and it should sound like it when played through the Signature Rendu SE Deluxe and a reference system. Starting with the snare and moving to the kick drum, Coye’s kit sounded like it was sitting right between my Wilson Audio Alexia V loudspeakers. I had the volume up at jazz club levels, because why not, and I could picture the entire band as they entered about 1:30 into the track.

Reynolds Saxophone sounds a lush as ever on this track, as he takes the button from Coye for a couple minutes, before then handing off to Ruslan Sirota on the keys and Anek Gwizdala on bass. This track has something for everyone, and the audio quality through the Deluxe feeding my dCS Rossini APEX was something everyone could enjoy. The sound was so good the one couldn’t dislike it if s/he tried.

Now for some absolutely un-audiophile music that really does it for me. I love Jon foreman’s new album titled In Bloom. It has an ethereal sound to it that just feels good, more than it sounds good. If I’m being honest, a reference grade component such as the Signature Rendu SE Deluxe must also sound good with this type of music, not just Diana Krall. I don’t want the Deluxe to change a single bit or byte, but if any music sounds bad, it isn’t the component for me.

Fortunately the Deluxe hands this singer / songwriter album off to the dCS Rossini perfectly, and without editorial noise. On the track titled Where the Sidewalk Ends, the limited percussion sounds delicate and sets up a beautiful foundational bass groove and Foreman’s honest and bare vocals. This is one of those tracks, and albums, with nothing to hide. Through the Deluxe, it also sounds like nothing is hidden. Just a band and its music, coming through my speakers, and moving me on an emotional level.

Speaking of emotion, the track titled Antidote mainly features Foreman and his guitar, with a little backing vocal assistance. It’s a raw track that sounds like he’s sitting around a campfire between my speakers. The incredibly high quality reproduction through the Deluxe enables emotion to just pour out of him as he hits high / lowlights of fear, depression, and wondering if there’s an antidote. It’s absolutely bare and absolutely beautiful. This is what it’s all about. This is what I want and why I got into this wonderful hobby in the first place, back in what my twelve year old daughter correctly calls the nineteen hundreds.

Deluxe Wrap Up

Around my house we have a saying. Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without. That’s a tough thing to live by in the world of high end audio. I’d love to keep my existing gear and spend all my disposable income on music. However, when a component upgrade comes along that improved upon all previous versions and it can improve all my previously purchased music, it’s time to reconsider. Or, at least put an asterisk next to one’s motto, that allows for reasonable and prudent upgrades.

The Signature Rendu SE Deluxe is the best Rendu ever created by the innovative team at Sonore.  Everything from huge crescendos and bombastic percussion to finger cymbals and texture laden sweet string sections, is reproduced perfectly. Grungy singer songwriters are handed off to one’s DAC sounding grungy, as they should sound. The Deluxe’s optical “firewall,” new mainboard, proprietary clock injection, lower CPU usage, and small but fruitful adjustments to the power supply, all come together in harmony as sweet as Peter, Paul, and Mary.

If you have a previous Rendu, it’s time to list it rather than continue to love it, and make the jump to the Deluxe.

    Product Information:

• Sonore Signature Rendu SE Deluxe - $5,350
• Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i9 Gen 4 - $3,999+
• Audirvana Studio / Core Player (Linux) - $70 per year

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system

    Audio: Listen to this article.

JCAT’s Marcin Ostapowicz (@Marcin_gps) first told me about his vision for the S1 server and his plan to bring it to market a couple years ago. Since then I followed up with him numerous times to check on the progress and to make sure I was still in the queue to get a review unit. The main reasons for this are because I really like Marcin, he’s an honest guy who loves music, and he creates very high quality products (JCAT, JPLAY, XACT, JPLAY for iOS) with passion.

The S1 Evo and N1 network switch combination were designed with laser focus on one thing, quality. This focus was so tight that when I inquired about the S1 not playing MP3 files, I was told that was by design. Not because the company hates MP3s or those who enjoy them, but because the company didn’t want to install any software on the S1 that wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Note: My review unit is the upgraded S1 Evo version of the server, as opposed to the original S1 (non-Evo version). The S1 Evo has a better clock on JCAT’s only master OCXO clock board, in-house developed ceramic-aluminum footers, and upgraded internal cabling.

The S1 Evo is a UPnP renderer or server and renderer, depending on how it’s configured. There is no web interface or way to interact with it, other than a power button on the front. It’s designed to work perfectly with the JPLAY for iOS app and comes with a lifetime license for the remote control product.

The version that arrived at my house for review contained a four terabyte SSD, selected by Marcin. At first I only wanted to use the S1 Evo as an endpoint / UPnP renderer, but after loading music on the internal SSD, I was sold on the concept. It’s just so simple to use it as the UPnP server and renderer, and everything works perfectly.

Talking to Ostapowicz about his six year dream of creating the S1 Evo, his excitement and belief in the product are readily apparent. Finally bringing to market the S1 Evo with a custom motherboard, low jitter OCXO clock, Optima X1 power supply, and an entire design with 100% linear regulators everywhere, was quite a feat for Marcin’s team. He is very proud of this “baby,” as he should be.

When the S1 Evo and N1 arrived, I was initially very interested in the hardware. But, as soon as I sat down to listen, I really didn’t care about the hardware and custom design in/outside the units. I soon forgot about everything other than the music and the JPLAY for iOS app that was my interface to my music collection and Tidal. In my mind this is one of the highest compliments I can pay to a product. I forgot about it! Just like the best referees in sports are the ones you don’t see or think about, the same can be said of the best HiFi products. I only wanted more of my music through the S1 / N1 combo.

It’s All In the Listening

Listening through the XACT S1 Evo to Long Road, Pearl Jam with Jack Irons on drums and Neil Young on pump organ, there’s a sonic purity to the sound that removes a barrier between the emotion of the musicians / music and the listener. As Eddie Vedder sings, “I have wished for so long…, How I wish for you today,” Jack Irons keeps the loop-like beat on drums that sound extraordinarily organic for a hard rock “grunge” band recording in 1995. Stone Goddard manages to add even more emotion with the absolutely simplest chords on rhythm guitar, but they serve the song better than any overcomplicated shredding master could ever dream of.

Through the XACT S1 Evo / N1 combo feeding a dCS Rossini APEX, this song sounds as good as I’ve ever heard it in my listening room. I’m enthralled by the musicians, the music, the emotion, and the sound quality. Anyone who has been around Audiophile Style more than three minutes knows I’ve listened to every Pearl Jam song ever made, a million times, in my systems over the years. The fact that this one sounds as good as it does right now, is a testament to the work and dedication of Marcin Ostapowicz, JCAT’s Founder and creator.

It’s a beautiful day here in Minneapolis and my listing room windows are wide open to let in the fresh air. However, I don’t know how many times I can play this song on repeat, until the neighbors call the cops, thinking I’ve fallen and can’t get up. Perhaps if the cops arrive, I can share this incredible magic with them as well. I feel a bit guilty that I’m the only person experiencing this sonic bliss.

And the wind keeps rollin',

    Audio: Listen to this article.

Short but SWEET!

As many of you know, I have this hunting gene that I cannot turn off.  But Schiit may have found a partial cure with their new Halo amplifier system in the Midgard amp.   Halo operates only on the balanced headphone connection (needs separate grounds for each channel) by including the headphone drivers in the amplifier feedback loop.   As I write this sitting in my office listening to the Squeezebox Touch into the Modius DAC via toslink.  It is hard for me to concentrate; I keep stopping to listen to BT's 2016 untitled album, sometimes titled "_"

I know this album to the last beat, yet I am more immersed in the music.   The clarity of the vocals on the track Artifacture reaches out and touches you.  The beat of the music hits your ears with an impact that I did not think the HD6xx headphones could reproduce. The digital expanse BT creates is etched into my ears and brain, just WOW!  As the music progresses to the track Indivisim, I feel like my brain is on an endorphin trip or watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the first time. 

I use the Schiit Urd with their Syn in my multi-channel system. The combination gives new life to my CD collection, extracting  5.1 surround from a Redbook CD.   When I am not listening to all the new ATMOS mix’s on Apple Music.

I moved the Urd and connected it via SPDIF (coax) to the Modius DAC. This launched my headphone listening to a new level. I have to rearrange the electronics so the Urd can do double duty.

I am stepping back to 1973 for Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells CD.  Hmmm, I wonder if there is a “TBVO” @Josh Mound??  I digress.

Listening to the instruments roll into the mix is a wake-up call, even before my first cup of coffee.  With the Halo output, each instrument stands out and flows into the mix, and I get a better sense of the engineering. In the last five minutes of Part One, each instrument is introduced and fades into the rest.  The glockenspiel is so rad. And, of course, the Tubular Bells slam in there.  

As the music fades to a single guitar, I feel the space around it as it fades to black!

The system is not fully tweaked out yet,  but here is the current design:

Squeezebox Touch, Urd, Modius, Midgard, HD6xx balanced headphone cable.  Pysst cables between the DAC and the AMP.   There is an Allo Shanti power supply for the Touch and the Modius.   And finally, my BX-5a M-Audio Studio Monitors!

My Lyrion Music Server runs on a Raspberry Pi 5 with an NVME drive for music storage that hangs out on the new 2-channel system I have designed.  (More on that very soon)

And for the App-Centric folks on iOS, try iPeng for LMS

You can also use the touch as an endpoint if you run Roon.

Or spin a CD on the Urd!

This is “Good Schiit” at a great price.  The Midgard is on my CASH list. Please Schiit more Halo’s for us!

Schiit Modius $229 | Schiit Midgard $219 | Schiit Urd $1299

Drop HD6xx $199 | Balanced cable for HD600 ~$30 | M-Audio BX-5a  $300 | Allo Shanti $159?? | Glass Toslink cable $45

    Audio: Listen to this article.

I reviewed the Dynaudio Focus 10 in November 2022, and at that time I loved what I heard. I concluded:

A streamer, DAC, preamp, amp, and loudspeaker in the same chassis, is a compelling solution on its own. Add to that the engineering prowess, reputation, and support from Dynaudio, and you have a sonic solution that's tough to top. The Focus 10 features classic Dynaudio aesthetic lines, but even more importantly contains an "engine" capable of very high performance. From the Pascal amps, proven for years in professional reference monitors, to the Stream810 module, to the custom DSP engine, to the dual room correction options, including Dirac Live, the real secret sauce of the Focus 10 is hidden under the hood. 

I enjoyed the Focus 10 on stands in my main listening area and on my desktop. I enthusiastically employed both the Dynaudio room optimization DSP and Dirac live DSP, with great success. Music filled my listening room, presenting an image much larger than I thought possible through these speakers, but not inappropriately so. This was not a synthetically large image, it was a beautiful soundstage on which my favorite artists performed my favorite tracks. Silky smooth sound, controlled bass, and a mid range that delighted me all day, every day. I highly recommend the Dynaudio Focus 10 active loudspeakers. Music, speakers, and fun, without the mess.

Recently, I had good reasons to fire up the Focus 10 speakers and take them for another spin. First, I received a Dynaudio Sub 6 subwoofer that works very well with the Focus 10. Second, Dynaudio updated the Focus series firmware to version 1.2.107, and this update contains some huge improvements. Let’s dig in.

First, the Dynaudio Sub 6. I’m sure this sub could integrate into any system very well, but with a Dynaudio system, it integrates perfectly and without any work. The Sub 6 features powerful DSP, a 500W amp, and two newly designed, mostly aluminum woofers.

The Sub 6 features presets designed to work perfectly with 28 existing Dynaudio loudspeaker models. The Focus 10, 30, and 50 aren’t among those however. This is because the Focus 10/30/50 controls the subwoofer. Given that I’m using the Focus 10, I set the Sub 6 to its defaults and never touched the sub again.

These presets and subwoofer control via the loudspeaker really do it for me. Subwoofers are like my kryptonite. I struggle to understand them and much prefer to bypass any controls on a subwoofer in favor of controlling everything with external DSP. My 12 channel system controls it all via minimum phase convolution filters. This Focus 10 based system controls it all via the loudspeaker in a somewhat similar way to my 12 channel system.

New Firmware

The new Dynaudio Focus series firmware, version 1.2.107, is major. Here are the broad strokes.

• Advanced Subwoofer Management
• Dirac Live Subwoofer support
• IP Control support
• Tidal MAX support
• Bug fixes

I have to give a big tip of my cap to the teams at Dynaudio USA and Dynaudio in Denmark for their timely, thorough, and well-reasoned responses to an initial draft article I sent prior to publication. I’d completed new measurements of the system, engaged the new presets, done all my listening tests and written this article. As is the standard practice here at Audiophile Style, I sent the Dynaudio team my draft and waited for the go ahead to publish. Fortunately, the team responded with several items I should address prior to listening one more time, followed it up with a helpful phone call, and one last round of questions and answers via email.

The advanced subwoofer management features auto or manual distance compensation (not measurement), presets, latency, polarity, and subwoofer output gain. The speakers don’t have the capability to automatically measure distance, but once the distances between the listening position and speakers are entered manually, the delay, phase, and gain are adjusted automatically.

The BIG DEAL for me is Dirac Live subwoofer support. Having previously added the speaker distances in the Dynaudio app, I enabled the subwoofer in the same app, and selected Sub 6 as my preset. The app told me to perform a factory reset of the Sub 6, and that’s it. I didn’t have to attempt manual EQ or phase adjustments on the physical subwoofer.

Then, I fired up Dirac Live on my MacBook Pro, connected my Earthworks M30 measurement microphone, and ran some measurements via the Dirac wizard driven software. An M30 isn’t required, but as I already own one for my 12 channel system, it made sense to use the best microphone I have. I whipped through the wizard, looked at the proposed Dirac DSP correction, named it and exported it to the Focus 10 speakers.

I didn’t do anything that required knowledge of DSP or room correction. This is the beauty of Dirac. The export process is smooth as silk. When I clicked export, the Dirac filter transferred to the loudspeakers automatically (the actually process involves the measurements being uploaded to the Dirac servers for creation of the correction file(s), which is sent back down to the computer and transferred to the Focus 10 over the local network. It all happens in a matter of seconds.). No USB stick or SD card or similar manual method required.

I opened the Dynaudio app, saw the new preset for the Dirac filter, selected it, and I was done. The Focus 10 and Sub 6 were automatically configured for perfect integration and room correction for my listening position. Having done this in the past, I knew that the correction Dirac showed me was going to be the one I wanted. However, those more adventurous can create several filter presets and export them to the Focus speakers. Switching is as easy as selecting them in the Dynaudio app.

I’d been waiting for this firmware update for quite a while and I’m happy to report it was worth the wait.

I immediately fired up JPLAY for iOS on my iPad and played some Pearl Jam on the new 2.1 system. No, not Do the Evolution or Lukin, but something a bit softer with solid foundational bass. I put on the song Man of the Hour, from the soundtrack to the film Big Fish. Director Tim Burton asked the band to create a song for the movie, and Man of the Hour is it.

Listening to Man of the Hour, the Sub 6 bass was seriously dreamy and integrated with the Focus 10 perfectly. A couple seconds into the track Jeff Ament plucked his bass and my body was at ease. There’s something about deep, powerful bass, even when it’s foundational rather than chest punching, that really does it for me.

Initially what I heard when enabling and disabling Dirac, was a large difference in bass. This is where the team at Dynaudio really helped me, asking me to make sure I had the settings for the built-in bass management set correctly and all the speaker distance measurements in place. Once I’d done this, the sonic difference between Dirac and no Dirac was much closer.

In these experiments, enabling and disabling Dirac, I and heard some differences in the very bottom end of the bass. Jeff Ament’s bass line at the beginning of Man of the Hour was fuller in the deepest regions when Dirac was enabled. My guess is this is a result of the Dirac filter’s +0.5 dB at the lowest frequencies. I could’ve adjusted this manually, but I went with the Dirac recommendations, as this is a feature update article, not a full Dirac review.

The Sub 6 is obviously capable of great bass with or without Dirac. But one beauty of Dirac is that I had great very deep bass without attempting to manually set anything up. Configuring subwoofers via the back panels is less than desirable in my opinion, especially if one is doing it alone. The Dynaudio app enables subwoofer output gain, but not all the other settings available on the back of the Sub 6. Again, Dirac does it for you. On the other hand, setting up a microphone and taking measurements, along with the added cost of Dirac, is a bridge too far for some people, and I completely understand why. We are all comfortable with different aspects of this wonderful hobby. There’s really no right or wrong way to enjoy HiFi.

Speaking of enabling and disabling Dirac, another beauty of this DSP is the ability to enable and disable it with the tap of a finger whenever one wants. Some people may like it only for certain albums or types of music. Just tap a finger and it’s enabled or disabled. This is very different from adding a tube amp for a little bloom, but not wanting that bloom on every album. With DSP there’s no plugging or unplugging. I personally like it on everything, but I understand not everyone shares my taste. In addition, with the new Dynaudio subwoofer management, the subwoofer level can be adjusted from the listening position with the swipe of a finger. Very convenient.

Circling back, from my previous Focus 10 review, to Jose James album Yesterday I had the Blues, specifically the track Good Morning Heartache. I previously wrote:

Playing music such as Jose James's cover of Good Morning Heartache, provides a perfect example of adequate, appropriate, and controlled bass. On my main Wilson Alexia V speakers, the bass on this track is a bit too much for my room. Without room correction, I can't listen to this track. Through the Focus 10, the bass wasn't as deep or room filling, to be expected, but it was tight and rolled off very well at the lower end of the speaker's capabilities.

Now, with the Sub 6 and Dirac Live subwoofer support, I tapped play on this album and sat back for a listen. Just as I thought would happen, the bass was much better and deeper with the Sub 6 (versus only the Focus 10) and more controlled with Dirac Live than without Dirac live. Not night and day different, because the Dynaudio bass management is quite capable, but better with Dirac. I could hear the entire track, as produced in the studio, rather than only the upper frequency portion supported by the Focus 10. In addition, the bass offload enables the Focus 10 to play at louder levels without an issue because the more difficult frequencies are pushed to the Sub 6. It’s a win-win all around.

This track is a tough one in my room. I need either limited frequency speakers, such as the Focus 10, or room correction and a full range system such as the Focus 10 and Sub 6, 2.1 system. This test was passed with flying colors by the Dynaudio Focus 10, Sub 6, Dynaudio subwoofer management, Dirac, and the new firmware upgrade that enabled the system to integrate together flawlessly. I should also note that this time around, I connected the Focus 10 and Sub 6 using Shunyata power cables to the Shunyata Gemini4, rather than using stock cabling and connecting it to the wall. This Shunyata system is what I use for my desktop system, but I see every reason in the world to use it with active speakers in a main system as well. I’d just never thought of using it this way previously (insert head-slap emoji here :~)).

Another big tip of the cap to Dynaudio for creating systems with advanced technologies that make a real difference. Even a novice can hear the improvement with Dirac and Focus 10 only, the improvement when Dirac is engaged with a Sub integrated into the system, and without Dirac, when the system is configured using the new subwoofer management features in firmware version 1.2.107. This isn’t the difference between DSD1024 and DSD 2048 (minuscule). This is a big deal with huge benefits.

    Product Information:

•     Dynaudio Focus 10 Active Loudspeakers $5,500     
•     Dynaudio Focus Brochure     
•     Dynaudio Focus Manual     

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system

    Audio: Listen to this article.

Review: dCS Bartók APEX DAC with Headphone Amplifier

Rajiv Arora

How time flies! Has it really been over 4 years since my review of the original dCS Bartók? Indeed it has, and dCS have since released major updates to both the hardware (the APEX upgrade) and the software (v2.0). These are substantial enough to warrant another evaluation of one of my favorite digital components. Of course, improved performance comes at a price, and the Bartók APEX is now priced at $20,950 (DAC only) and $22,950 (with headphone amp).

Let me be clear about what this review is not. It is not a review of how much the APEX and 2.0 upgrades improve the Bartók. I didn’t have access to an original Bartók to make this comparison. Nor is this review simply a description of the sound quality of the Bartók APEX. That would be boring. News Flash: it sounds outstanding. Uh, at $22,950, it had better!

What then is the focus of this article? I will be looking at the Bartók APEX in the context of:

• How does it compare to other comparably-priced standalone DAC/ amp products? I’ll be looking at my reference Vinnie Rossi L2 DAC/L2i SE, as well as a Chord DAVE with DIY power-supply enhancements, a combo I’ve dubbed the Super-DAVE.
• How does it scale (i.e. sound better) with:
  •    A dCS Lina word clock
  •    A dedicated headphone amp. I’ll look at both the L2i SE and a dCS Lina.

With the objectives defined, let’s jump into it. I encourage readers to first have a look at  my original review, where I covered the core Bartók design principles and philosophy as well as an assessment of the sound quality at the time.

APEX and 2.0 Improvements

What are these APEX and 2.0 improvements?

First, the free Bartók 2.0 software upgrade, which preceded the Apex upgrade, delivered several claimed sound performance enhancements.

• 2 additional enhanced mapper options that run at 5.644/6.144MHz (for 44.1k or 48k source rate families), compared to the previous 2.822/3.072MHz,
• An optional DSD128 (DSD X2) Upsampling stage in the PCM oversampling sequence, and
• Additional PCM and DSD filters.

The APEX upgrade, in contrast, is a hardware update of the Ring DAC board. It was first delivered on the Vivaldi and Rossini platforms, and has since been released on the Bartók. Priced as a $9000 upgrade for existing owners of these DACs, it also contributes to the increased price of the Bartók APEX relative to the original. As dCS explain in their APEX: A Closer Look page, APEX is an ambitious redesign of their Ring DAC board, that includes:

•  improvements to the reference power supply,
• an improved analog output stage with lower output impedance,
• improved summing and filter stages, and
• replacing individual transistors with compound pairs.

dCS claim that as a result of these improvements, the enhanced Ring DAC board is over 12dB more linear.

All this seems wonderful, of course. But dry feature lists are one thing, it’s how they translate into sound quality (SQ) that actually matters. So let’s find out.

My Listening Setup

Review System Topology

My baseline reference system topology for this review is shown in the picture above. It consists of an optimized network chain, the Taiko Switch, the Taiko Extreme, equipped with the Taiko USB and Taiko NIC cards. Audio data is output over USB to my reference DAC/Amp, a Vinnie Rossi L2 DAC module in an L2i SE integrated amplifier with Takatsuki TA-300B tubes. My reference headphones are the T+A Solitaire P and the Meze Elite. The switches are powered by independent DC rails supplied by a Paul Hynes SR7MR3DRXLFC10 power supply. AC power is delivered via a 6AWG dedicated circuit to a Sound Application TT-7 Reference power conditioner, to which the amps, the Extreme, and the Paul Hynes PSU are directly connected. Additional details are available in the System Details section below.

The L2 DAC sounds best with upsampled music files, at DSD512 via the PGGB offline upsampling tool, and this is how I listen.

As I covered in this article, to drive my reference headphones from a speaker amp, I use the functionally versatile and excellent sounding Transparent Ultra Headphone Cable System, which comprises an Ultra banana plugs-to-female XLR adapter, the Ultra cable, and then headphone-specific leads for each of my headphones. This enables me to switch between headphones while using the same cable.

Review Playlist

Bartók APEX Review Playlist

To enable you to listen to the same tracks that I did, I have created a public playlist on Qobuz USA. This playlist includes the tracks mentioned in this review, as well as some of the others I listened to in the course of this evaluation. Please note that in some cases, the Qobuz track will not match the mastering I listened to, especially since some of my listening was with PGGB-upsampled files, stored locally on my Extreme server. Still, this gives you a sense for the music I listened to for evaluation.

Listening Impressions

Due to its versatility, describing how I integrated the Bartók APEX into my system is best shown in pictures. The red lines in the figure show you the music data path. In later sections, these red lines will allow you to follow the different paths being compared and listened to. 

I first listened to Bartók APEX as a standalone Streamer/DAC/headphone amp, using the builtin Mosaic streamer module playing music from Qobuz. This is about as simple as it gets, as all you need here is a power cable, and a wired connection to your network. Everything else you need is done via the dCS Mosaic app. Music data flows from the Internet through the network chain, and directly to the Bartók APEX through its Mosaic module, as shown by the lines in the diagram.

The dCS Mosaic app on iOS is itself a model of simplicity and elegance. It controls both the music endpoint software on the Mosaic module, as well the DAC parameters like the choice of input, filter, mapper, output level, crossfeed, and so on.

As expected, the Bartók APEX sounded great in my system. In the 4+ years since its predecessor was in the house, my system has also changed almost completely. Yet, listening to the Bartók APEX was like meeting an old friend after a long time. All the familiar attributes were there in spades. 

I started with a classic: Symphony No. 9 from Herbert von Karajan’s 1963 cycle on Deutsche Gramaphon (24/96). Despite the vintage of the recording, the sound was rich, detailed, spacious, and dynamic. As before, the tonality felt inherently right: neither bright nor dark, just real. And wow, the instruments were fleshed out in a way I don’t recall in the OG Bartók. In fact, this reminded me more of the OG Rossini that I listened to as part of that previous review. Was the 2023 Bartók APEX closer to the OG Rossini of 2018? Who knows, there was no way for me to tell! Still, it boded well. And ultimately, the real question was how well the Bartók APEX compared to other competitive offerings in its price range.

A final point to note here. If someone who wanted ultra-simplicity and outstanding sound quality bought the Bartók APEX, a nice pair of headphones, an iPad, and stopped right here, I guarantee they would be delighted at the sound quality this simple and elegant setup achieves. No fuss, no muss.

Tuning the Bartók APEX for the best sound quality

Of course, the audiophiles among us want to extract the absolute best sound quality, even at the expense of complexity. So my first experiments were an exploration of the various inputs and operating modes to achieve this with the resources available in my system.

Taiko Extreme Server over USB

While Mosaic streaming as described above is the simplest and most convenient usage scenario, I found the diagram below to be the best sounding, although it involved more components in the chain. This is not the place to debate the value and relative merits of music servers, and I don’t intend to. I’ll merely say that when driving the Bartók APEX over USB with my Taiko Extreme server, the sound quality uplift on the Bartók APEX was startling, just as I’ve experienced with every other DAC I’ve tried. I also found local files to sound better than files streamed from Qobuz.

Line Level

This setting was only relevant for the scenarios described in later sections, where the Bartók APEX was connected to a downstream external amplifier. The line level setting defines the maximum line output voltage, and can be set to values of 0.2V, 0.6V, 2V, and 6V. The optimum setting will of course depend on the input sensitivity of the amp(s) in use.

I found both my amps were fine handling both 2V and 6V outputs from the Bartók APEX without overloading. Given that, I found that the 6V output sounded better, with better dynamics. Of course, this needs to be tested with whatever amp is used, and the Bartók APEX conveniently provides a range of output voltage values to suit.

Mappers

The dCS mapper is an integral aspect of the Ring DAC operation. By the time the music data reaches the Ring DAC, it has been modulated to a 5-bit PCM stream. For every sample, a subset of the 48 unitary current sources in the Ring are dynamically selected based on the magnitude of the sample. But which subset? Ah, therein lies the rub, and this is what the mapper decides. 

With the 2.0 upgrade, users now have a choice of 3 mappers on the Bartók APEX. The original mapper, which operated at 2.822 or 3.072MHz, is now designated Map 2. The two new mappers operate at either 5.644 or 6.144MHz. One is the default and designated Map 1, whereas the other is an alternate design, and designated Map 3.

In my listening tests, I expected to hear very subtle differences between these mappers, and to my surprise, the differences were not subtle at all. Indeed, I heard a bigger difference between mappers than I did between dCS’s filters.

I preferred both Map 1 and Map 3 over the original Map 2, but over extended listening, Map 3 was my consistent favorite. To my ears, this setting was both more transparent and more dynamic than the others.

Filters:

I actually found the difference between the inbuilt filters to be quite subtle. I settled on Filter 4 for input PCM rates up to 24/192, and Filter 6 for DXD. For DSD inputs I preferred DSD Filter 5.

Software Upsampling:

Upsampling is, like many other topics in audio, a fraught and certainly overloaded term. dCS offer an Upsampler in their flagship Vivaldi line, whose role is to offer both a sound quality benefit, but also a plethora of rate conversion options that speak mostly to professional uses.

For audiophiles, the term is primarily focused on sound quality. Many DACs do their processing in stages, which typically include an oversampling filter stage and/or a sigma-delta modulator stage. The premise of doing software upsampling on a PC upstream of the DAC is that using the PC’s powerful computational resources enables the use of algorithms that are just not possible with the limited hardware resources in the DAC. There are two approaches with these software tools: either in real-time with HQPlayer, or ahead of time with PGGB. 

Of course, for this approach to be sonically beneficial, two conditions have to be met:

1. The DAC must be designed to “get out of the way,” i.e. be able to bypass its internal processing when presented with an upsampled stream, and
2. The upstream algorithms must actually be sonically superior.

Before condition 2 can be tested, condition 1 must be true. The Bartók APEX does not really satisfy condition 1. In a series of emails with dCS’s James Cook, I ascertained that:

• while the Bartók APEX only accepts up to 24/384 (8FS) PCM inputs, internally the processing pipeline further upsamples to 16FS (705.6/768 kHz) before handing off to the Ring DAC module. Furthermore:
• while DSD inputs bypass the PCM oversampling as one would expect, they are still modulated to the multibit PCM format used by the Ring DAC.

I did listening tests on the Bartók APEX with music files pre-upsampled with PGGB to 24/8FS (352.8/384 kHz) as well as DSD128, the highest rates accepted by the DAC over DoP (DSD over PCM). Was there a benefit? To my ears yes, but the improvement was quite modest at best.

This can mean different things to different people. For those with an existing upsampling chain already in place, it means that they can easily try 24/8FS or DSD128 upsampling and determine for themselves if it further enhances the SQ of their Bartók APEX. However, for those who prefer simplicity, and would just like to play their native music files, whether locally from their libraries, or via streaming services like Qobuz and Tidal, they can rest easy that the Bartók APEX is delivering outstanding sound quality out of the box. 

If you can sense a theme of elegance and simplicity here, you are correct. This is a DAC/amp that is equally comfortable serving those that just want to turn it on and listen, all the way to those who want to tweak every parameter and configuration in a quest for the most sound quality.

So in summary, for all the listening tests described below, I made the following choices for the Bartók APEX:

• played native files,
• selected Mapper 3,
• selected F4 for PCM inputs up to 24/192, F6 for DXD inputs, and F5 for all DSD inputs.

Comparison 1: Vinnie Rossi L2i SE amp with L2 DAC module and Takatsuki TA-300B

Shown below is my current reference system, to which I compared the Bartók APEX, playing local files served by the Taiko XDMS music player via USB. While the L2i SE is no longer available, this combination would have retailed for roughly $24,000. So pricewise, these are comparable systems. 

Since the L2 DAC sounds best with DSD512 upsampled music files, I played the native files on the Bartók APEX, and the same files upsampled to DSD512 via PGGB on the Vinnie Rossi.
  

I happened to be on a nostalgia trip listening to iconic songs from the 70s, which is how I ended up hearing Killing Me Softly, Roberta Flack (24/192, Rhino Atlantic) on both setups. I had not heard this song in years, and never on systems of this quality. The effect on both setups was mesmerizing and almost overwhelming. There is a tremendous amount of detail and subtle harmonies in this song that I never knew even existed! On the Bartók APEX, I was instantly transported to when I first heard this song as a teenager. It was impossible to analyze the sound critically, as it just pulled me in emotionally. There is no better experience in audio, let me tell you. 

Switching to the L2i SE, the differences were small but noticeable. On the one hand, microdetails were blurrier, but on the positive side there was more oomph and heft to the sound.

It was interesting to note how the sonic differences I heard reflected the relative distribution of strengths in the subcomponents of both products. It was clear that the Bartók APEX’s DAC had better transparency, resolution, and dimensionality. In contrast, while the L2 DAC was no slouch, especially when getting the benefit of PGGB upsampling, the L2i SE pre and amp stages were clearly pulling a lot of the weight in delivering excellent dynamics and soundstage.

Indeed, you would expect that combining these strengths would yield another substantial SQ boost, and that is exactly what I heard when I listened to this configuration below.

The effect of replacing the builtin Bartók APEX amp with a bespoke external amp delivered a significant SQ boost, as expected. I’ll cover this configuration more in a later section.

Comparison 2: Chord DAVE with Sean Jacobs DC4 ARC6 and SRC-DX “Super-DAVE”

For my second comparison, thanks to the generous loan from a local audio friend, I was able to reprise for a few days a setup that was my reference for quite some time prior to my adoption of the L2i SE. I am speaking, of course, of the Chord DAVE – and friends, or a configuration I’ll affectionately refer to as “Super-DAVE!”

For those who might be interested, please check out my previous article, where I described my DAVE reference system, and why I moved to the VR L2 DAC/L2i SE.

The system I reprised for this review is actually superior to my previous reference, because it has the Sean Jacobs DC4 ARC6 PSU (I only had the DC3). The full chain is shown below. With the DAVE, I played PGGB-upsampled 24/16FS (705.6/768) files, as these sounded best to me. 

Listening to this setup brought back some fond memories! Those of us who have at some point in our audio journeys had the Chord DAVE will understand that special transparency and spaciousness that the DAVE does so well. The Sean Jacobs DC4 ARC6 transforms the DAVE to a different level, adding heft, dynamics, and a larger soundstage. Of course, this also raises the cost of the combo to ~$24,000 MSRP, which makes it an appropriate configuration to compare with the Bartók APEX.

We reviewers don’t always get or take the time to sit back and thank our lucky stars for having one of the best jobs (OK, the pay is atrocious!) in our hobby. As I was listening to these DAC/amp combos, I could not believe I had laid out in front of me not one, but three of the best headphone setups money could buy, and I could listen to them all day long, every day! Believe me, I am thankful, and I do not take this bounty for granted.

Listening to Mahler IX, Herbert Blomstedt, Bamberger Symphoniker (24/96, Accentus Music), the DAVE combo reminded me of my ownership days with the things it does almost uniquely well. There is a level of clarity and transparency that DAVE owners immediately recognize. Extremely fine details and textures are rendered so well, as are transients. This applies to leading edges for instruments like cymbals and triangles, and decays of long French horn notes, for example. Thanks to the DC4 ARC6, the DAVE’s soundstage is huge, and instruments are precisely placed. All this means for dense orchestral passages, the ability to locate and distinguish melodic and harmonic lines from different instruments is just uncanny.  

Switching to the Bartók APEX, it was striking to hear how well it too did all of the above. The DAVE pulled ahead slightly on transparency, but the Bartók APEX brought its own strengths to the party. Even with the DC4 ARC6, the DAVE could not match the Bartók APEX’s muscularity and weight. On Jodhaa Akbar (24/96, UTV), the latter’s soundstage was just as big, but additionally, instruments were more fleshed out and sounded more real and palpable. While the DC4 ARC6 has considerably tamed the somewhat bright signature of the DAVE, the combo was still tonally a smidge brighter than the Bartók APEX. To my ears, the Bartók APEX’s tonality along with its ability to portray instruments with more realism, made me find it more timbrally accurate.  

Summary of DAC/Amp Comparisons

So how do I declare a winner here? I can’t! Each of these DAC/amp combos is outstanding, and which one appeals most to a potential buyer will depend on the attributes they value most. 

Both the Bartók APEX and the Vinnie Rossi L2 DAC/L2i SE illustrate the benefits of integration. The former’s DAC stage is clearly superior, with better transparency and coherency. On the other hand, the VR’s analog stage and amplifier provides a better level of dynamics and physicality. It depends which of these attributes matters more in your own evaluation.

Almost the same words can be used to contrast the Bartók APEX and the Super-DAVE, but this time with the Bartók APEX being the more dynamic and muscular one.

Were I starting from a clean slate, I would pick the Bartók APEX. If I already owned one of the other two? That’s a tougher call. But all of these choices sound wonderful, so this would be one of those classic first-world problems.

Effect of adding a dCS Lina Master Clock

All dCS DACs are designed to accept inputs from an external word clock that can provide a higher quality (lower phase noise) 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz reference signal for the DAC to synchronize its internal clocks. There is no companion Bartók clock in dCS’s lineup, but dCS assured me the Lina Master Clock (MSRP $7,750) was an excellent match.

Testing the Bartók APEX with and without the external clock engaged is easily done via the Mosaic control app. I had heard the Lina Clock with the Lina DAC at various audio shows in the past, so the improvement with the clock did not come as a complete surprise!

With some tracks, the effect of the clock is so profound that it can make you laugh out loud. I’ve heard clock improvements in many aspects of the audio chain, and the word that always comes to mind is “focus.” As in: the sonic image was fuzzier before, and the improved clock snapped it into focus, like a better camera lens. On Von der Schönheit from Das Lied von der Erde, Michael Tilson-Thomas, San Francisco Symphony (24/88.2, SFS Media), the soundstage with the clock engaged was not just bigger, it was enveloping. It transported you into the hall. Instruments were more holographic . Thomas Hampson’s voice had a solidity and presence like never before. Strings had more texture, and timpani strokes had more crispness and clarity.  

What can I say about this clock upgrade? Admittedly, it adds more to the already considerable cost of the Bartók APEX. But once heard, it’s almost impossible to imagine going back. And therein lies the answer. I could not imagine buying the Bartók APEX without also buying, or planning to buy, a dCS Lina word clock. It’s that good.

With the Lina clock in place, as shown in the diagram below, the combo’s SQ was now significantly better than both the Super-DAVE and the Vinnie Rossi. But now we’re comparing different price points, so this is more about making choices than declaring winners and losers.

Effect of adding an external dCS Lina Headphone Amp

But wait, there’s more! Does dCS perchance have a dedicated external headphone amp? Indeed they do. Enter the dCS Lina Headphone Amp (MSRP $9,750).

On the surface, the key benefit the Lina headphone amplifier provides over the built-in Bartók APEX is more of everything: inputs, outputs, and power. But the specifications alone hardly tell the whole story.

Let me say again: the Bartók APEX’s builtin headphone amp is very good. It quite easily drives my somewhat efficient T+A Solitaire P (92 dB/mW), and very efficient Meze Elite (101 dB/mW) reference headphones as loud as I desire. But an amp’s quality is not just its loudness or gain.

Listening to Candela on Buena Vista Social Club (25th Anniversary Edition) (24/96, World Circuit), the improvement when moving from the built-in amp to the Lina was immediately apparent. Even at lower levels, the Lina was more dynamic and rich, with more body, better bass definition, and a bigger soundstage. This is one of those cases where you are tempted to equalize the difference by raising the volume of one, only to find that gain does not get you there! With a source component of the quality of the Bartók APEX DAC, it isn’t surprising that it benefits from an external amp. 

Comparing the Lina Amp with the Vinnie Rossi L2i SE

This was an interesting comparison. The L2i SE is a 100Wpc speaker amp that also serves superbly as a headphone amp, from a designer who’s best known for his analog electronics. It is also at a higher price point than the Lina amp. Finally, the L2i SE in my setup is configured with a Direct Heated Triode (DHT) tube preamp stage and solid-state power amp stage. The Lina, in contrast, is a bespoke solid-state headphone amp design, and operates in Class AB mode.

On Virah from Bandish Bandits (24/48, Sony Music), despite the price and power differential, the Lina held its own in this comparison. It closed the gap in density, dynamics, and bass depth that the L2i SE had over the built-in Bartók APEX’s headphone amp. I found both the Lina and the L2i SE to be compelling in their own ways. What I have always loved about the L2i SE was the fact that it it had that holographic image and immediacy that tubes do so well, especially the Takatsuki 300B DHTs, while still being as taut in the bass, and as crisp in the transients as any good solid-state design. The Lina is more neutral across the board, without highlighting or diminishing any aspect of the music. It just gets out of the way and lets the music flow without any editorializing. While the L2i SE’s soundstage is just a bit bigger, and its overall signature airier, the Lina portrays instruments with more density and its bass articulation.

I would honestly be happy with either amp. The L2i SE’s extra power might make a difference with extremely inefficient headphones, and the remote control is a real plus. The Lina’s advantage is its multiple headphone outputs. Ultimately, the fact that the Lina held its own and even bettered, in some areas, an acclaimed speaker amp says a lot about its quality and value.

Wrapup and Concluding Thoughts

What does it take to improve an already excellent DAC/amp? Hard work, solid engineering, and yes, more money. There is nothing mysterious about the list of improvements that comprise the hardware (APEX) and software (2.0) upgrades to the Bartók. These are all meat and potatoes engineering concepts that resulted in the Bartók APEX I reviewed here. And the results speak for themselves.

If you made it to this point, it should come as no surprise that I absolutely loved the Bartók APEX! In terms of absolute sound quality, it came out ahead against my current and erstwhile reference DAC/amps that are both in the same price range. It is also more feature rich, containing a full-fledged streamer within the box. And this allows tremendous flexibility and scalability.

You can start with the single box by itself and have yourself an incredibly simple, yet excellent-sounding headphone setup. Or, you can scale out on multiple axes to achieve even higher sound quality. On one axis, you can add a music server and/or streamer of your choice. On another, you can (and should!) add a word clock like the dCS Lina Master Clock. And on a third, you can add a dedicated headphone amp like the dCS Lina Headphone Amp.

With these capabilities, the dCS Bartók APEX caters to anyone from novices to inveterate tweakers. All they need in common is an abiding love of music played exceedingly well. And this, when all is said and done, is what the Bartók APEX does. It plays your music. Exceedingly well.

Highly recommended! 

Product Information:
 
dCS Audio - Bartok APEX with Headphone Amplifier: $22950
dCS Audio - Bartok APEX: Product Page
Purchase: Where to Buy

System Details

Music Server:                         Taiko Audio Extreme Music Server, Taiko USB card
DAC:                                        Vinnie Rossi L2 DAC module
Amp:                                        Vinnie Rossi L2i SE integrated speaker amp
                                                Takatsuki TA-300B tubes (QSA treated)
Reference Headphones:       Meze Elite, T+ A Solitaire P, 
                                                Sennheiser HD800 (SD mod)
Ethernet Switches:                Buffalo BS-GS2016 (modded for LPS), Taiko Switch
Power supplies:                     Paul Hynes SR7MR3DRXL (dual regulation, 3-rail)  
                                                Paul Hynes SR4-12, SR4-19
Power Details:                        Dedicated 6AWG AC circuit 
Power Conditioner:                Sound Application TT-7 Reference
Power Cables:                        Sablon King (wall to TT-7)
                                                QSA-Lanedri Spectra Infinity Prince (Extreme)
                                                QSA-Lanedri Gamma Infinity (L2i SE)
                                                QSA-Lanedri Gamma Revelation (SR-7) 
                                                 Cardas Clear for all other components
USB cable:                              Shunyata Omega USB
Ethernet cables:                     generic cat 6a, QSA-Lanedri Gamma Infinity (to Taiko Switch)
Direct Attach cable                5m supplied by Taiko
Clock cables:                          QSA-Lanedri Gamma Infinity (Lina clock to Bartók APEX)
DC cables:                              Curious DC cables (SR-7)
Headphone cables:               Transparent Ultra cable system
Headphone adapter kit:        Transparent Ultra, banana plugs to XLR4 adapter
Accessories:                          Synergistic Research Tranquility Base XL UEF. Galileo MPC
                                                Synergistic Research MiG 2.0 footers
                                               Taiko Audio Daiza Isolation Platforms and Daiza footers
                                               High Fidelity Cables Trinity Helix Headphone Module.

Acknowledgments
 
Many thanks to the following companies for supplying cables and accessories to aid in this evaluation: 
* Transparent Audio, for the Transparent Ultra headphone cable with a full complement of headphones leads and source terminators,
* QSA-Lanedri, for a variety of their cables,
* Cardas Audio, for a variety of Cardas Clear and Clear Beyond cables.

About the Author

Rajiv Arora — a.k.a. @austinpop — is both a computer geek and a lifelong audiophile. Having retired from a corporate career as a researcher, technologist and executive, he now combines his passion for music and audio gear with his computer skills and his love of writing to author reviews and articles about high-end audio.

He  has "a special set of skills" that help him bring technical perspective to the audio hobby. No, they do not involve kicking criminal ass in exotic foreign locales! Starting with his Ph.D. research on computer networks, and extending over his professional career, his area of expertise is the performance and scalability of distributed computing systems. Tuning and optimization are in his blood. He is guided by the scientific method and robust experimental design. That said, he trusts his ears, and how a system or component sounds is always the final determinant in his findings. He does not need every audio effect to be measurable, as long as it is consistently audible.
 
Finally, he believes in integrity, honesty, civility and community, and this is what he strives to bring to every interaction, both as an author and as a forum contributor.

    Audio: Listen to this article.

I think it must be quite obvious that I am a fan of what the folks are doing at Schiit. Two new products from them have piqued my interest, a new Yggdrasil+ MIB DAC and gulp, a new more advanced phonostage dubbed Skoll. I know, vinyl is not a word that shall be uttered in these here parts. I could  hear Chris groaning all the way over here on the East Coast 🤢 when I suggested it. However, once I assured him that I could use my audio superpowers to squeeze Atmos out of vinyl using MQA, he was all in. So, I requested some review samples and put these products through their paces. Issues do come up in the real world sometimes which have delayed this piece somewhat, but I am now ready to rumble.

YGGDRASIL+ MIB

As I am sure you will recall, after success with the original Yggdrasil and the iterations thereof such as the analog 2 board and Unison USB, Schiit released two new flavors of Yggdrasil, dubbed More is Less or MIL and Less is More or LIM. Chris was present at a blind shootout along with some other writers at the Schiiter, where they judged the three DACs. You can read about that here. I requested a review sample of the LIM to pit it against my original OG with the analog 2 board and Unison USB. You can read that review here.

As I noted in the review, despite the fact that the LIM used four 16 bit TI DAC8812 chips vs. the four 20 bit Analog Devices chips in the OG, I felt that the LIM was the superior sounding DAC. I guess quite a few folks agreed as the MIL DAC, the preferred DAC of Jason Stoddard, was discontinued. Since then, Schiit announced the Yggdrasil +, a fully modular Version of the OG and LIM, which makes upgrading the DAC far easier for the end user and makes for a nicer form factor as well. However, all good things must end, and as the OG’s Analog Devices chips were discontinued and obviously harder to come buy, the OG was discontinued as well, replaced by the More is Less or MIB which uses four TI ultra precision 20 bit DAC110018 and which costs a cool $400 more than the LIM. Are those extra four bits of resolution worth it? Read on.

Before getting to my sonic impressions I wanted to state the equipment used in formulating those impressions. My speakers are 1997 vintage Vandersteen 3A signatures being driven by a SMc Audio DNA 1 fully updated amp which in turn fed by a new build SMc Audio TLC-2 pre amp. More details about the SMc Audio products can be found here and here. I am using a MacBook Pro M1 chip laptop to feed all three DACs (the OG, LIM and MIB) via a DH Labs usb c to b cable. All cabling is vintage audioquest and all power by Essential Sound Products. 

In my formal LIM review, I described the sonic differences I perceived as follows:

As for the sound differences between the LIM and the OG in my system, the LIM was the clear winner. Yes, less is apparently more. When I was a kid we used to hear about the importance of the 3 R’s, reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic. Well with the LIM, we have a new set of 3 R’s, resolving, relaxing and right. While the two DACs share a common sound, clear differences are heard in direct comparisons between the two. The LIM has a smoother sound. It is less edgy in the treble. The midrange is a tad warmer. The music, and I hate to use this term, seems to arise out of a blacker background, one that has less noise. Perhaps this reduction in noise results in the sonic improvements I hear. 

I hear the same differences between the MIB and the LIM, but this time the MIB is clearly better, at least to these ears. I am mindful of the old adage that numbers never lie. Perhaps, but perhaps they do not always tell the full story. Despite resolution of only 16 bits vs. 20, the 16 bit DAC sounded best. Whatever TI did to modify the 20 bit chips, they made a significant improvement. I hear a much smoother sounding DAC across all frequencies. This DAC is so easy to listen to, for hours, being so natural and non fatiguing yet very detailed and dynamic. There is just more detail presented by the MIB even with very familiar recordings. There is a very open midrange with a greater sense of front to back depth. Front to back depth was never the Yggy’s strongest feature. However, the MIB  improves on this yet keeps the expansive side to side soundstage. There is even greater separation between each object in the sound field. Bass is deeper yet more controlled. You hear more of the woody character of an upright bass. Pianos have a more accurate piano sound more clearly conveying the complex sound of the instrument. Guitar licks have more bite, kick drums more kick, with more accurate sounding cymbals and high hats on a drum kit.

There are a few recordings that best illustrate the improvements I am hearing with the MIB DAC.

First is An Evening at Charlie’s featuring Mel Torme and George Shearing on Concord. Mel Torme is one of my favorite jazz singers. He and George Shearing put out a series of excellent releases on Concord as a duo and with a trio. This release, recorded at an intimate club in DC, is my favorite. One track in particular, I’ll Be Tired of You, penned by Arthur Schwartz and E.Y. Harburg, was the song my wife and I picked out as our song at our wedding. My dad was a professional musician and suggested that I copy this song on a cassette so he could give it to the band that was performing  at our reception. They did a decent job but at the wedding the band leader said my lord, could I have picked out a harder arrangement? Listening to this track through this DAC tells you why. George Shearing is simply playing beautiful and very sophisticated frills behind the vocal beautifully supporting Mel’s phrasing. There is clear space between the vocal and piano allowing you to clearly follow either. This is the type of experience I enjoy with this little hobby of ours.

The next recording is Scott Hamilton at Pizza Express Live London on PE records. I was fortunate enough to attend a performance by Scott and his band at this very venue in SoHo  on January 2nd. This recording takes me right back to that evening. The recording wonderfully captures the big lush sound of Scott’s tenor we heard that night. Thrilling stuff.

Finally, and I could go on and on, is the Melody Gardot recording, Sunset in the Blue. In particular the first track, If You Love Me. The vocal is placed beautifully in front of the accompaniment with a string arrangement that has a lushness that the LIM can’t match, as good as it is.

To sum up, it is my opinion that the MIB DAC is the finest version of the Yggdrasil that Schiit has yet produced. It does everything that I love about high end sound right and is well worth the extra premium. The fact that it is capable of being so easily updatable with the new + form factor is icing on the cake. Very highly recommended.

SKOLL

Must people who know me know that I am a digital guy. Over the last ten years or so, my listening has been exclusively digital 100%. However, like anyone who first got into this hobby for real in the early 1980’s, I have accumulated over 500 LPs which I still own. As I noted in my TLC-2 review, I did not opt to have a phono card included as I thought I would add a separate phono stage for less money. In particular I had in mind the Schiit Skoll that I had heard at a friend’s place with Veloce electronics and the new MC Audiotech speakers. The phono stage sounded very good to me, especially given its price of $399. It seemed to me to punch way above its weight, having heard some phono stages costing many thousands of dollars.
 
The turn table I planed to pair it with was my VPI HW 19 Mark IV from 1992. The table is equipped with a rebuilt and retired Kuzma Stogi tone arm and a Clearaudio cartridge. A picture of the set up is below.

When the Skoll arrived, I had to reacquaint myself with the joys of vinyl. The Skoll seems to be very versatile with numerous settings for MM and MC cartridges, loads and outputs all easily set via a handy dandy little remote. Settings can even be adjusted on the fly. Thankfully, the turntable was able to function, as best as I could tell, flawlessly. It has been awhile after all. I have quite a few albums that I enjoy on vinyl only and it was quite a bit of fun to  listen to these records through my updated system. Yes, even though I had to get up over and over and turn the platters over let alone clean the records before each spin. To get good sound, one has to take the good with the  bad or in this case, the inconvenient. I was quite impressed with the sound reproduction through the Skoll on virtually all albums I played.

The real test was to pit the Skoll up against the MIB with recordings I had on both vinyl and digital. I picked a few pictured below. While I did not have the DCC CD release of Nat King Cole’s Love’s the Thing, I was always very impressed with the sound quality of this pressing so included it for evaluation. The results?

Well, the head to head comparisons were closer than I expected. Tonally the presentations were similar. Details and space through the Skoll was very good. Where the Skoll fell a bit short was in the noise floor which was higher. Some low level detail, like Jeff Hamilton’s low level stick work on In a Mellow Tone on Montreux Alexander was a bit obscured, clearly by the surface noise. I also thought that the bass was not as deep and detailed as on the MIB. Sibilance on vocals was just a bit more pronounced through the Skoll. While I could not hear as deep into the sound field with the Skoll, the presentation of familiar recordings on their vinyl counterparts was still damn impressive.

As for the Nat King Cole recording, it was as good as I remembered it. His voice hung in the room right before you. Quite spooky an experience The strings were never harsh as string recordings from that time period often are. Not quite as sumptuous as on the Melody Gardot album, but very close.

The only real drawback I encountered with the Skoll was low level hum. I was not able to get rid of it. It is possible that it is the fault of the turntable. However, it was low enough that I never heard it when actually playing music. Therefore, it never negatively affected my enjoyment of the music produced through the Skoll. All in all, I thoughtfully enjoyed my foray back into the world of vinyl with the Skoll and look forward to rediscovery some of the old chestnuts in my vinyl collection in the future. The Skoll is quite a bargain.

BTW, do not ask for the Atmos files extracted from vinyl using MQA. NASA and the DIA has not permitted me to distribute them. Pity.😎

Joe Whip

Product Information:
 
Schiit Audio - Yggdrasil More is Better (MiB): Price $2,699 (black) / $2,799 (silver)
Yggdrasil More is Better (MiB): Product Page
Purchase: Where to Buy

Schiit Audio - Skoll: Price $399
Skoll: Product Page
Purchase: Where to Buy

    Audio: Listen to this article.

I’ve been an audiophile for as long as I can remember. I’ve had audio systems ranging from a Toshiba boombox that was sent in for repair twice, to my first real stereo consisting of a Technics receiver and Kenwood speakers (mom and dad, I still owe you $64 for those speakers, I know), to my current state of the art twelve channel immersive system. The journey from boombox to immersive has been incredibly enjoyable, and if all goes well, this journey will continue for decades to come.

Along this journey, one item stands out as the single most memorable product, producing the single most memorable experience, and a comment I will never forget. I graduated from college in 1998, and started saving money to upgrade the Klipsch KG5.5 speakers I had in my college apartment. Over a year later, I visited a local HiFi shop, just to hear what it had on display, and to hopefully set an obtainable goal by finding good sounding components I could afford at the time.

That afternoon I listened to a couple systems that I can’t remember. I then walked into the main room and saw what was described to me as the Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy 6 in a beautiful blue color, connected to Audio Research amplifiers. I sat in a black listening chair, was handed the remote control, then left alone for twenty minutes. I was wholly unprepared for what I heard out of this system. In fact, when the owner of the store came back into the room I asked him why I wasn’t hearing certain aspects of the music. He honestly replied that those artifacts were probably not part of the recording and I was just used to hearing a little embellishment or editorializing from my current system.

I spent another forty minutes in this room, wondering if there was a time limit, or if I would eventually get kicked out. I didn’t want to leave. A new world had opened for me. I had now heard what was possible from a HiFi system. The WATT/Puppy 6 was so astonishing to me that I told the dealer on my way out, “One day I will own a pair of WATT/Puppys.” I entered the store to set an obtainable goal, but what I experienced was much more profound and enabled me to reach for an aspirational goal.

Over a decade later, when I was finally in a position to purchase the WATT/Puppy, the speaker had been discontinued. However, I was fortunate enough to purchase a pair of Alexia 2s, as my first Wilson Audio loudspeakers. If only my twenty-five year old self could’ve seen me when those speakers arrived. It was a special moment, and made possible by the WATT/Puppy 6.

The WATT/Puppy 2024

When I was offered a chance to review The WATT/Puppy, a flood of memories came back to me. I also had one slight hesitation, what if meeting my “hero” didn’t turn out the way it did in my audiophile dreams? I didn’t want to tarnish my ethereal memories of the WATT/Puppy 6, but there was no way I could pass up this chance.

I asked if I could review the speakers at one of the best audio dealers in the world, The Audio Salon in Santa Monica, CA. I was scheduled to fly out there for a Wilson Audio 50th anniversary event, and if The WATT/Puppy speakers were going to be there, it would be a win-win. I also asked if I could listen to The WATT/Puppy serial numbers 0001 and 0002, and the speakers could be signed by Wilson Audio CEO Daryl Wilson. Only kidding, I didn’t ask for that, but The Audio Salon and Wilson Audio made it happen anyway.

I arrived at The Audio Salon on Thursday, May 30th, knowing the Wilson 50th event was scheduled for Saturday June 1st. This enabled me to observe the entire process of selecting components and positioning the loudspeakers. I prefer to be a fly on the wall, staying out of everyone’s way, but the entire Audio Salon team took care of me like a five star staff and wanted me to be part of the setup process. Soon the speakers were roughed into place, I was in the listening chair, and measurements of my ear height and distance to the speakers were taken, to be entered into the WATT/Puppy nomograph. The speakers were setup for me, and we started listening.

As soon as I pressed play I knew. I knew The WATT/Puppy loudspeakers were an instant classic. There was still fine tuning and slight positioning adjustments to be done, but it was easy to tell this is a special speaker. The CSC Tweeter, 7-inch AlNiCo QuadraMag midrange driver (also used in Chronosonic XVX, Alexx V, Alexia V, and the Sasha V), two 8-inch woofers (also used in Sasha V), and a combination of proprietary Wilson Audio X, S, and V Materials, were used masterfully in this speaker’s design, to out-kick its coverage by a mile. In other words, I couldn’t believe a speaker of this size was pressurizing the room, hitting me in the chest with kick drums, and placing butterflies on the head of a pin with delicacy.

We spent Thursday evening, and all day Friday trying different components with The WATT/Puppys, listening with the doors open and closed, with and without chairs in the room, and really enjoying the process of extracting as much as possible from the system. I still hadn’t had time to myself with The WATT/Puppys, but I’d already scheduled that for Sunday, when I had The Audio Salon to myself, literally, but more on that later.

The Event

I was at The Audio Salon for the entire Wilson Audio 50th event. It was really nice to hear from Daryl Wilson about the company’s history and to get a feel for the company ethos. I also spent a lot of time talking to other audiophiles about Wilson Audio and The WATT/Puppy. They had no idea I was working on a review of the speaker when I asked for their opinions. Heck, most of them probably had no idea who I was, and I liked it that way.

Everyone I talked to loved the speakers. There wasn’t a single under the breath comment about something missing or the sound being off. That in itself is a miracle because pleasing a group of audiophiles is a fool’s errand.

During the event, Daryl Wilson said something about Wilson products and the craftspeople who build them, that really hit home. Growing up in Minnesota with a large population of humble Scandinavians and playing hockey for coaches who understood the power and necessity of teamwork, I really connected with Daryl’s comment about the name on the speakers. Daryl expressed that while his family name is on the back of loudspeakers, there are four or five other names of craftspeople on the inside of each loudspeaker. Those craftspeople, along with a team of roughly 60 others, come together to design and manufacture Wilson Audio loudspeakers in Utah.

Connecting Wilson Audio’s ethos to hockey in Minnesota, there’s a saying that all hockey players, from the age of 5 to the professional ranks, have ingrained in their minds. It came from legendary coach Herb Brooks, who brought a team of college kids to the 1980 Winter Olympics and won the gold medal against all odds. Herb used to say, “When you pull on that jersey, the name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back.”

Given the aesthetic concerns with placing several craftspeople’s names on the front of the loudspeakers, it’s understandable why the prideful signatures of the team are on the inside. But, the fact remains, there are many parallels between the name on the back and the name(s) on the front or inside. It takes a team of skilled and dedicated people to produce something great, and nobody is larger than the team as a whole.

The Serious Listening Session

Sunday June 2nd, I had The Audio Salon to myself. Literally, Maier Shadi opened the doors for me, made sure all my questions were answered, then left. It was just what I needed, after listening with a large group of people the previous afternoon, and exactly what I would do if the speakers were in my own listening room.

In addition to The WATT/Puppy serial numbers 0001 and 0002, the system consisted of a Halcro stereo amplifier, Ypsilon Phaethon SE integrated (using the preamp output), dCS Bartok, XACT S1 Evo server and N1 switch, and Transparent cabling. The library and music selection were all within the JPLAY iOS app for my own listening, and everyone at the previous day’s event passing the iPad around. To say the app worked well is an understatement. Any time a group of people, un/familiar with all kinds of audio apps, start tapping around and pressing buttons, things can and will go awry. As The Computer Audiophile, I expected to be summoned to the listening room a few times to get someone out of a jam, but it never happened.

Sitting down in the black listening chair, with the place to myself, I played Irishman Dave McKendry’s album HumanBeingKind. Track three, Islander, was ear/eye opening. It was as if he was singing directly in front of me. The sound was electrostatic-like in its liquidity, but impeccably robust in the reproduction of foundational bass notes. Above all, the emotion of McKendry singing, and the emotion pulled out of me listening, was equivalent. The WATT/Puppy delivered McKendry’s message, without editorializing, just as the WATT/Puppy 6 had in my aspirational audition over twenty years ago.

Feeling the Irish vibe, I tapped on fellow Irishman Glen Hansard’s 2012 album Rhythm and Repose from within JPLAY for iOS. I’ve been a fan since the movie Once in 2007, staring Hansard and musician Markéta Irglová. HIs songwriting, phrasing, and sound are right up my alley.

While listening to track two, Maybe Not Tonight, I got goosebumps all over. Hansard pours his heart out when singing verses such as

Though what you say is true

This might be it for me and you

Maybe we can draw that line

Maybe another time

Well I wanna do what's right

But maybe not tonight

The beauty in his lyrics, music, and emotional performance, are all on display through The WATT/Puppy. It’s as if the tagline for this loudspeaker is, “You Want It, You Got It.” The WATT/Puppy is everything one could ask for and delivers the music how it’s meant to be delivered. That is, however it’s put down on the album.

Switching gears to one of my “I Bet You’ve Never Heard This” albums, I put on Them Crooked Vultures self-titled release. I was a bit scared to head down this road. I knew the music demanded that I crank it, because it’s hard rock n’ roll and should be played loud. But, I thought, what if I blow The Audio Salon’s new WATT/Puppys, serial numbers 0001 and 0002 nonetheless! With great risk, comes great reward, so I had no choice. I had to crank it.

I put on track 1, No One Loves Me & Neither Do I, set the volume to “I think this is still OK” levels and let it rip. Within an instant, there was a chest thumping kick drum and heavy guitar and bass my whole body could feel. I tapped the volume up another notch, just because I could, and it’s as if The WATT/Puppy looked me in the eye and said, “Is that all you got?”

This is a hard hitting track that sounded crazy good and immensely powerful through The WATT/Puppys. I could picture Dave Grohl bouncing on his drum stool as he “kicked” the bass drum and choked the cymbals throughout this track. The sound quality of The WATT/Puppys and the entire system enabled me to visualize this better than any 4K UHD screen could ever dream of reproducing.

Note: It turns out that the risk of turning the volume up louder than I thought was sane, wasn’t that great and the reward was huge. The WATT/Puppy handled everything I threw at it. Not even skipping a beat playing Them Crooked Vultures at 93 dB (as indicated by my Apple Watch face).

After giving my ears more of a workout than the speakers, I took a break, then put on Stravinsky Conducts Le Sacre Du Printemps from High Definition Tape Transfers. In reviews I often talk about a track or two, but I’m an album guy. I listen to entire albums because 1. I like it this way, and 2. This is how the art was made and delivered. I listened to this entire 31 minute piece a couple times. When great music and great sound quality come together, the results are magical. I was captivated.

Everything from the delicate to the powerful was reproduced with equal parts finesse, control, and an endless ease. This speaker oozes that confidence of a younger sibling who has matured enough to take on or compete with older siblings on both an intellectual level and strength exercise. The WATT/Puppy transitioned from the Introduction to the Auguries of Spring with ease and elegance, and delivered with incredible power and control of the percussion section, as the music moved into track 3, Mock Abduction and beyond.

After listening to this album a couple times, I thought I’d love to be the guy selling The WATT/Puppys and hate to be the guy selling anything more expensive. It’ll take some serious listening, splitting a few hairs, and finding those few recordings where the larger siblings of The WATT/Puppy are head and shoulders better.

The After Hours Listening Session

After spending the day at The Audio Salon by myself, I headed near the Santa Monica Pier, for dinner at Blue Plate Taco. After dinner I caught the end of the Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals on my iPhone while waiting on the beach for the sun to set. The fresh air and scenery rejuvenated me. What does a rejuvenated audiophile do, with a pair of new WATT/Puppys a couple miles away? I called The Audio Salon’s Maier Shadi and asked if he wanted to meet me at the store for more listening. I couldn’t get enough.

I had much of this review outlined and my notes finished by this time, but I still wanted more of The WATT/Puppy and the entire system. During this “after hours” session we even drove The WATT/Puppys with the Ypsilon integrated amp rather than the Halcro. I wasn’t ready for this experience, with lush midrange like nothing I’d heard in recent memory.

Two tracks that really put icing on The WATT/Puppy cake for me are Iron & Wine’s Low Light Buddy of Mine, and The War on Drugs’ Living Proof. These are gems that I don’t throw around lightly because there’s nothing worse than turning a great song into a hated song, by overplaying it. I once put a favorite song as my ringtone a million years ago and found out the hard way.

Low Light Buddy of Mine is an Iron & Wine track on the album Ghost on Ghost. It’s hard to believe neither track nor album have made anyone’s “Must Listen” list, but I’m OK with that. It’s nice to have a few tracks/albums up one’s sleeve, that nobody has heard. Right from the start of this track, the Xact S1 Evo > dCS Bartok > Ypsilon Silver Phaeton > The WATT/Puppy combo delivered goosebump revealing reproduction. The drum and bass combo sounded so realistic, with tight bottom end for days, before the heavily altered vocals of Sam Beam began, creating an incredible juxtaposition with seriously cool vibes.

Taking this track to, and giving The WATT/Puppy a chance at, another level of performance, are the incredible number of instruments played by Rob Burger throughout the entire 3:30. With the groove set by the bass and drums, Burger smatters a little clavinet, hammer dulcimer, organ, and a jaw harp, among others playing saxophone, reeds, and ukulele. While it seems like this would be a bit chaotic, The WATT/Puppy laid it all out there on a silver platter for the ears to absorb, the brain to enjoy, and the body to feel. It’s all beautifully audible and endlessly memorable, just like my first impression of the WATT/Puppy 6 over twenty years ago.

With Maier Shadi sitting in the listening position, and the clock just past midnight, I put on Living Proof. When Adam Granduciel sang the opening line, “Banging on a drum,” followed by Anthony LaMarca elegantly playing that drum, The WATT/Puppys appropriately matched the elegance with both the texture of the drum and by reaching down to reproduce the lowest notes with authority. The intimacy of this track, with all the clear and gritty details being revealed by The WATT/Puppys (and the entire system), nearly brought both of us to tears. It doesn’t happen often, but when a system and a song push all the right buttons and the listeners are willing to show vulnerability, it’s pure emotional magic. To me, this is what makes our wonderful hobby so wonderful and this is how memories are made.

Maier and I stayed at The Audio Salon until well after midnight. If I had a nickel for every time one of us said, “wait, one more track,” I’d be retired in Kauai right now. Chico Freeman’s Spirit Sensitive sounded like he was in the room with us, right there in Santa Monica. Olivia Vedder’s vocal performance on My Father’s Daughter sounded so spectacular that we were sending SMS messages with videos of it, to friends. No matter what we played, The WATT/Puppy reproduced it faithfully and we enjoyed the heck out of it. But, at some point, we had to call it a night. We queued up Audioslave’s Like A Stone, turned the volume well beyond a safe level, and let it rip. When the song was finished, we both looked at each other and agreed it wouldn’t be possible to top that. “That,” meaning playing Like A Stone at concert levels and having it sound so amazing, but also the entire four hour listening session. In that moment, it’s hard to imagine life getting much better.

The Conclusion

This review is very meaningful to me and no doubt will bring back wonderful memories for those reading it. When I said one day I’d own a pair of Watt/Puppys, I believed it but never thought I’d have the incredible opportunity to review serial numbers 0001 and 0002 of new WATT/Puppys in 2024. The WATT/Puppy is a special loudspeaker. So special that it’s often imitated, but never duplicated. It’s an iconic American original.

After spending several days with The WATT/Puppy, from initial setup, through minor adjustments, and final positioning, measured for my own ear height and distance, I feel like this is a speaker I’ve known for a long time. It certainly helped that I was away from home and life’s normal obligations, and could focus my attention entirely on the loudspeakers. However, I also would’ve loved to share in the enjoyment with my 12 year old daughter playing the new Billy Eilish album, in my listening room, but that’s OK, we’ll see her in concert  together in November.

A small part of me wishes I would’ve kept track of all the hours I spent listening, but the other 99% of me is happy I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. I didn’t even pay much attention to the driver compliment or the custom Wilson Audio capacitor discussion, that took place during the 50th anniversary event. That stuff is easy to look up, for those who are interested. Music is all about emotion for me. An audio system, or loudspeaker, either pulls it out of me in a special way, or it doesn’t.

The WATT/Puppy is special. It’s capable of bringing the recorded past into the present, and along with it all the emotion, delicacy, and energy of our favorite music. Meanwhile, The WATT/Puppy itself has a well earned history that can’t be bought or easily recreated. Fortunately, those lucky enough to purchase The WATT/Puppy will enjoy the best of both worlds for a very long time.

Product info

Product Information:
 
Wilson Audio Specialties - The WATT/Puppy: Price $38,500
The WATT/Puppy: Product Page
Purchase: Where to Buy

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system

    Audio: Listen to this article.

Let’s cut to the chase, I absolutely love the Aurender AP20. When I’m not in my listening room, I think about which albums I still need to hear played through it and I daydream about listening to my favorite music.  When I walk up the stairs and enter the room, I have zero doubts that I’ll hear this music, with fantastic sound quality, as soon as I tap play on the physical remote or Conductor application. There’s nothing to go haywire because it’s a complete system. When music starts playing, I set my phone down, as the AP20 commands my full attention by doing what it was designed to do, reproduce music incredibly well. Aurender’s AP20 all-in-one, single chassis solution, is damn near a perfect product.

Aurender AP20 Details

To be honest, I was unsure if Aurender could pull this off. I’ve followed the company since its inception as a high end music server pioneer, and I know the team has vision and talent. However, building a component that combines so many features, at such a high level, is a completely different challenge. I had high hopes, but prepared myself for an ordinary, not extraordinary experience. Perhaps I fell victim to the old audiophile axiom that suggests a company can only excel at making one type of product. Old habits die hard, but setting them aside can be immensely rewarding.

The AP20 does everything and does it extremely well. Like all Aurender products, the AP20 features the company’s core technology, a fantastic music server. This part is identical to other Aurender servers, with a combination of local storage, streaming from Tidal or Qobuz, and the ability to connect to an Aurender Content Server (ACS). I used all three during my time with this unit. I’d forgotten how nice local SSD storage is, until I popped a 2.5 inch Samsung drive into the back of the AP20, copied files to it from my NAS (using the Conductor app), then played some music. Instant playback is really nice.

From the digital section of the AP20 files are sent to the dual-mono AK4497 DAC for conversion to analog. Aurender is no stranger to severs with built-in DACs, and the performance of the AP20 shows this in spades.

Now the AP20 story gets interesting. It’s analog all the way from here on out (with one convenient exception). Aurender implemented an analog R2R stepped-attenuator volume control in the AP20. It would’ve been so simple for the company to just use the digital volume control built into the AKM chips, but I’m very happy an R2R analog control was selected because I often prefer the sound of a nice analog volume control.

The convenient exception to an all analog volume control comes into play when reducing the volume below -64 dB while using a digital source. The AP20 switches to a digital volume control at levels lower than -64 dB. When using the AP20 in my main system with Wilson Audio Alexia V loudspeakers positioned roughly ten feet from my chair, I never needed to dip into the digital attenuation. On the other hand, when I used the AP20 with Wilson Audio TuneTots at my desktop, I needed to reduce the volume quite a bit below -64. The ability to do this in the digital domain, versus not at all, was very nice because the speakers were literally a couple feet from my ears. Very little volume is required in this situation.

Note: If using the analog inputs of the AP20, the lowest volume setting remains -64.

Beyond the R2R analog volume control are two Purifi 1ET400A Class D amplifier modules in a Dual-Mono configuration. These are the amp modules that “everybody” is talking about, and for good reason. The team at Purifi is brilliant and it has proven through countless objective tests that these Eigentakt 1ET400A modules are the new king of the Class D hill.

Feeding these modules and the entire complement of internal components, are six discrete toroidal transformers. Even the CPU is fed with a linear power supply.

One feature I didn’t plan on using, but thought, why not, is the balanced analog input of the AP20. Sitting next to the unit near my desktop was a dCS Lina DAC. I sent audio to the Lina via JPLAY for iOS, then output from the Lina to the AP20. Once the digital was converted to analog by the Lina, the signal remained analog from input to output of the AP20. I’m very happy I tried this because it enabled me to isolate the analog section of the AP20 from the digital and DAC sections. The unit’s performance was fantastic, even though using an all-in-one integrated with external DAC and UPnP server was a bit outside any normal use case for the AP20.

All of the aforementioned features are the big ones. I left out many of the small details that in and of themselves equate to large performance enhancements. I should also discuss the “issue” that an all-in-one traditionally suffers from the fact that it’s an all-in-one. It isn’t possible to change a single part of the product or upgrade it down the road. The AP20 is a different animal in this regard. The music server piece is like all Aurender servers in that it gets updated frequently. The AP20’s analog inputs enable one to use a different DAC if the time comes for such an upgrade, while the analog outputs enable one to use a different amp if desired. The Eigentakt 1ET400A amp modules are fantastic, but perhaps down the road one may want to dip his/her toe into a lush tube amp with a pair of horn speakers. Fear not, just connect the analog outputs of the AP20 to said tube amps, and off you go. In essence, this is an all-in-one with great flexibility and obsolescence resistance.

The Proof Is In the Listening

We’ve all likely seen many products in many industries that were designed using the best components, without regard for anything other than the components being considered the best. After all, it’s the easy way to avoid complaints from those who look at specifications and armchair engineers. In my world, components such as the AP20 are built for reproducing music and eliciting an emotional response when I play my favorites or something new that blows me away. Yes, the internal components are wonderful and measure great, but I don’t really care if the product doesn’t deliver on its promise of great sonic performance.

I started with the AP20 on my desktop system. I loved setting it under my desk, connecting speakers cables, and pressing play. The simplicity can’t be overstated or ignored. Listening through the Wilson Audio TuneTots, music sounded stellar. I texted a few friends after spending a couple days with the AP20 in this configuration. I had to spread the news that this integrated was special.

Sitting in front of this system for many hours per day, I’m always aware of any flaws. Once I hear them, it’s all over because I can’t stop hearing them. I heard no such flaws with the Aurender AP20 and Wilson Audio TuneTot combo.

Moving the AP20 to my main system with Alexia V loudspeakers from Wilson, involved disconnecting my immersive system. The difference in size between a system with seven amplifiers, twelve speakers, and hundreds of feet of cabling and a system with a single AP20 chassis, one set of AudioQuest Robin Hood Silver speaker cables and the loudspeakers, is really profound. At first I had to get over the fact that a single unit, sitting in front of my center channel speaker, was running my entire two channel system. After decades of monoblock mind conditioning, and separates for everything, it can be jarring to hear an integrated sound so good.

One album that I’d been thinking about since installing the AP20 was Patricia Barber’s Cafe Blue. I have the First Impressions Music version, along with MFSL and others, so I copied it over to the internal SSD. Right from the start of the opening track, What a Shame, I was all-in. Mark Walker’s percussion sounded so realistic, and with texture that I didn’t think was possible from a system like this. Everything is inside one box, it shouldn’t sound this good! When John McLean’s guitar eerily creeps up from the background to the foreground just before the two-minute mark, his tone is reproduced so well, it just sucks me into the track and into a smokey jazz club, where Patricia Barber likely watched and listened in awe of the sound just like me from my listening chair. This track and the entire album sound not only super clean through the AP20, but the sound is very engaging. Listening through the AP20 I frequently thought about what I was missing on this album, and I concluded that the missing attributes were likely sonic artifacts not on this recording, but only present on other systems because of a sonic flaw or flavor.

Sure, low-key jazz plays nearly perfect on the AP20, what about Mahler’s Symphony No. 3? I’m glad you asked. I queued up the newly released, by High definition Tape transfers, version of Mahler’s Third, set the volume to -13 and let it rip. WHOA! Talk about clean power that moved air and would’ve moved my hair if I had any! What an absolute delight it was to listen to this performance and put the AP20 through its paces. This album has incredible dynamic range, requiring instant power to reproduce huge percussion, followed by finesse required for soft passages and reproduction of the tone of the horn section. The Aurender AP20 delivered better than I could’ve imagined. Seriously, this was one of those moments that I’ll be talking about to friends at the upcoming AXPONA and Munich High End shows. The AP20 has power to kick you in the chest and delicacy to place a triangle in a three dimensional hologram anywhere on the soundstage. After listening to this performance, my heart was literally racing.

Of course I played my fair share of Pearl Jam and Three Blind Mice jazz albums during my time with the AP20, and they all sounded fantastic, but I want to focus on a new album released February 16, 2024 from Gilad Hekselman, titled Life, at the Village Vanguard. Track three, Equinox, has been released on Tidal at 24/96, and the entire album is available from Bandcamp. This is a live recording that sounds excellent through the AP20. The buzz of a tube amp, not the AP20 buzzing, drew me in right from the opening seconds. There’s so much beauty in imperfection and it’s these “imperfections” that the Aurender AP20 reproduces with perfection. I want to hear everything included on the recording, and on this one it’s as if I was sitting in the front row at the Village Vanguard.

Through the AP20 this recording has a wonderful sense of space. The texture of the snare drum head, when hit, is inescapable and delectable. With Hekselman’s elusive electric guitar slithering throughout the track, and a few jazz club patrons in the background, this is like a modern day Jazz at the Pawnshop. Stream it, and download now for posterity, you will love this on a great audio system.

Wrap Up

The design of the AP20 is really something to behold. It’s the right horse for not just a single course, but many courses. Its flexibility enables it to be used as an all-in-one or as a single component of a larger system, or as something that falls in between those two. I used it in two different systems, and mainly as the only component connected to my Wilson Audio Alexia V loudspeakers. I still have a smile on my face when thinking about playing Mahler’s Third through this system, with little volume attenuation. Enough transients to scare any listener and plenty of delicacy to please even the most discerning audiophile. The team at Aurender has seriously outdone itself.

Around my house we like to say, use it up, wear it out. I feel like I used this unit in every which way imaginable and forced it to flex its muscles while simultaneously whispering with accuracy, but I couldn’t wear it out. I couldn’t find the limits of the Aurender AP20. This is so much more than an integrated amplifier. It’s a complete system with sky-high capabilities. 100% CASH Listed.

Product Information:
 
Aurender AP20 Integrated: Price $22,000
Aurender AP20: Product Page
Purchase: Where to Buy

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system